Monday, August 31, 2009

Great Monday Give: The Philharmonic Gets Dressed

This week I'll use the Great Monday Give as a platform to honor two children's literature legends: Karla Kuskin, who died last week at the age 77, and Reading Rainbow which was canceled due to funding and aired its last episode on Friday after 26 years on the air. Well-loved as an illustrator (Roar and More), Karla is best known for penning the Marc Simont-illustrated classic The Philharmonic Gets Dressed which just happens to be a former Reading Rainbow title. So in honor of both these greats, I'll be giving away a nice, ex-library edition of the book to one lucky reader. All you have to do to be eligible to win is comment on this post before midnight, Sunday, September 6. A winner will be selected at random and announced the next morning.

Reading Rainbow's cancellation was a big shock to me. Not that I have watched it lately (no cable or antenna TV in our house... just DVDs and VHS). I grew up watching some of my favorite books come to life on that show.

My son and I love Marc Simont's illustrations (Wolfie, My Brother Ant, Nate the Great, etc). Somehow, we haven't picked this one up yet!

It'll be a while before we sign our two-year-old daughter up for any formal music lessons, but we're trying to get her excited about music in a variety of ways, including reading about it. This would be a great book to that end!

I hadn't read about this book before, so when I checked your review, I had to chuckle at the thought of it. If I was sitting in the orchestra after reading this book, I would be too busy trying to imagine all of them in one life situation or the other! A really fun book to share!

oh no! I am so sad Reading Rainbow got canceled. I loved Reading Rainbow growing up. I watched some of two episodes last week, and I had no idea it was the last week. I kept thinking how much my son would like that show once he was a little older. I am glad I got to see it again, though! Alison

Our family has homeschooled for 23 years. When the kids were young, we used Konos curriculum which is a great way of learning through unit studies. I remember using this book for our unit on the Ears. Music was part of that unit including learning about the orchestra. Our boys made color coded diagrams of where each instrument of the orchestra was located.

Brings back homeschooling memories to see this book highlighted on your blog. I can get lost in your site...so beautiful!